Between the activities that happen each day at school (music, sport, library) and the extra curricular activities that our children participate in during the year, our schedule is CRAZY!

Last year I had Master O constantly asking me Is today Library? Do I have swimming tomorrow? I had my own schedule planned in my diary but never got around to making one that he could follow himself. Now with two cherubs at school it has become a necessity.

Our Schedule Must Have’s

FLEXIBLE. Be able to be changed around – We have winter and summer sports, term timetables that change and I am not going to be printing out a new timetable every time I need to change it!

MULTIPLE. A timetable each. I though about creating one big family planner, but with the number of activities it would get too confusing. Which brings me to my next point

EASY. Ease of use. I need it to be read and understood by a 3 year old! Hence it will require images as well as text.

BUSY. Must be able to track multiple activities on each day.

How we did it!

1. Flexibility. Instead of just creating a printed schedule that can’t be changed, I looked for a more flexible option. Enter the photo frame. I would create a blank timetable to go behind the frame and use velcro dots on the glass, so that I could change the activities as often as needed! You will need a frame big enough to fit an almost a4 size of paper. This frame was an 8×10 from Kmart for $5. Velcro dots can be found at Spotlight, Riot (art and Craft) and most dollar stores.

2. A weekly timetable. I then created a weekly timetable template in word. I included Monday to Saturday as we generally don’t have activities on a Sunday. I can easily add a Sunday activity to the bottom of a staurday box and use a whiteboard marker to add the word Sunday! Yet another beauty of using glass, you can write on it and it’s not permanent. Of course when Little Miss A saw me doing this she insisted I make one for her in pink!

3. Print and Frame. Simply print the template, cut it to fit your frame and put it in!

4. The activity cards! We don’t do all of these activities but after a lengthy Facebook discussion I have added some popular activities for YOU! I have also left one blank that you can add in as need be. Simply Print, Cut (inside the lines), Laminate, Cut. Attach a velcro dot to the back and you have a flexible and easy to read activity card!

Attach a velcro dot to the outside of your frame as needed and simply attach and reattach an activity as needed!

I must say I just know this is going to SIMPLIFY our life! It will keep us on track and maybe, just maybe stop some of the million questions about what is happening this week!!!

I have love creating this for us and FOR YOU TOO! I have bought the images from DigiWebStudio and due to your request I have added a “DONATE” button to my sidebar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

These PRINTABLES are free for you to use to help organise your home, but if you LOVE them, feel free to make a donation to help cover costs.

There he was. My first born child. A whopping 9lb son. I had clearly defined expectations on what becoming a mother would like. I pictured my birth. Natural with no complications and drugs only as a last resort. I imagined what having a newborn child would be like. I wouldn’t sleep a lot. I would breastfeed. I would gaze down at our newborn son as he happily nuzzled into me.

Oh boy within the first 24 hours all my expectiaitons had been thrown out the window. After a complicated labour, there were no time for drugs as I was rushed in for an emergency C-Section.

My first days of motherhood were spent in pain, struggling to walk and shower, depressed at the loss of my ideal birth. I appeared confident as I approached breastfeeding. My baby seemed to be taking to it until…..the advice began. [Read more…]

I dread nightfall. Experience has shown me, that the hours ahead hold, an obnoxious concoction of one part leg cramps, two parts Braxton Hicks and a massive dose of heartburn mixed with indigestion. In preparation, for the nighttime pregnancy side affects, I create a pillow tower, in the hope that sleeping in a disastardly uncomfortable upright position, just might soothe the pain.

Its the heart burn that is the worst. I have dealt with it in each pregnancy and true to the old wives tail, I have had babies born with full heads of hair. Can I offer to receive a bald baby in exchange for no heartburn?

As with most of my ailments I shy away from doctors advice and seek medical attention via Facebook. Chew on some fruit tingles they say, eat Chocolate paddlepops, is the overwhelming response of the majority. Who am I to deny the chance to become a medical experiment in dealing with heartburn. I buy both in ample quantities.

Night falls and in preparation I devour a chocolate paddle pop followed by one or two fruit tingles. I place the rest of them by my bed and hope that this is one experiment that has overwhelmingly positive results.

NO HEARTBURN.

Perhaps it is a fluke or maybe just all in my head. One trial does not conclusivly end the experiment. So the next night I continue with the Facebook doctors orders and take my preventative dose of medicine.

NO HEART BURN.

For a whole week I continue my new ritual. It has side effects. I start craving chocolate Paddle Pops at other random times of the day. My children begin to develop addictions to whinging at me for a fruit tingle. But I persevere, in the name of medical science of course.

Yesterday. In the middle of the day, my old friend heartburn seeks his vengeance. Feeling abandoned, he has snuck up on me and tricked me into taking my medicine at noon instead of night.

Nightfall. Perhaps I should skip my dose tonight. Afterall I have already had a chocolate ice cream today.

As I lay down it is only minutes until that old sensation overcomes me. He is there lurking and laughing. Heart burn is back and struck with a greater force then before.

HE WILL NOT WIN.

Today I am stocking up on my medication of choice. Who am I to argue with my now conclusive experiment. In order to avoid preganncy related heart burn, one must take a dose of chocolate ice-cream and pop a few fruit tingles before going to bed. EVERY NIGHT. You must complete the full course of the prescription. Do not try to skip a dose.

So thankyou Facebook Doctors, for your Chocolate Paddle Pop and Fruit Tingle prescription. Together we have started the good fight against heartburn.

Money, Money, Money. I am the worst saver. I am putting it out there, I can hunt out a deal, by discount and in bulk but when it comes to “saving up” for a big purchase, I am hopeless. In fact, hopeless doesn’t quite cut it, I actually have never done it!

When it comes to teaching children to save, I was struggling. It seemed whenever people talked saving money and children, it was the old chores and pocket money system. I am sure, this system is secretly written somewhere, in that magical parenting guidebook, that I have never seen, because everyone seems to be doing it. But to be honest, the principal behind it didn’t sit right with me. I don’t want my children to only help around the house because they are getting paid. I am constantly teaching them how to work smarter and to work hard and do the right thing because it feels good or because you are helping others, not because you are going to be rewarded.

So we are taking a new approach.

LOVE JOBS: Making your bed, unpacking the dishwasher, tidying up toys. These are not chores. Doing these things is about;

being responsible for your belongings,

respecting your environment by keeping it neat and tidy

showing respect and love for your home and family by contributing to daily life

teaching children the value of hard work, not because you will be rewarded but because it feels good to help others and contribute to the greater good.

creating self sufficient and independent children that will one day be adults who arent afraid of a little hard work!

We don’t make these jobs into “chores.” Children do not receive financial reward for them. We do these things together as a family and everyone contributes. We make it fun, we praise them, turn it into games, chat whilst we work or get the music pumping. They are jobs we do because we love our home, or belongings and each other. Love Jobs.

So if we don’t give pocket money how do we teach children to save? We take a bigger approach. We want our children to learn how to use your talents and hard work to make money, and then make that money work for you.

The job must be the child’s idea. We are teaching them to find work for themselves instead of waiting for someone to create a job for you. Use your intitiative and be self motivated. Instead of an adult telling them what jobs need to be done they should be able to look around and find jobs to do. For example Master O, when playing in the yard noticed that the mulberry tree had left a mess of leaves on the ground. He asks if he could clean them all up for us. Little Miss found me sorting baby clothes and asked if she could help me.

They set the price. This is mainly for Master O who is 7. We are teaching them to value themselves and their skills and to ask for reasonable reward for those skills. He is learning to negotiate with us and set a price based on a per hour basis, or difficulty of the job or wether its a big job that he could share with his sister.

You only get paid for good work. Do a shoddy job, whinge or complain during the process or dont finish the job, guess what? Just like in real life you may not get paid. Or even better do a fantastic job and go that extra mile, you may get a bonus.

Now make that money work for you. Putting the money in the bank makes your money work for you. We are teaching our children that having money in the bank makes you more money. Even better find ways of investing it wisely can even make you more money. We offer some extra incentives for savings. Once they reach $10 we will add $2 ourselves (like interest). As they get older we will also encourage them to put the money towards something that may help you do a better job and earn more money. Like your own car cleaning supplies or flyers so you can then do the same job for others and make more money.

Find a good bank. It always helps to have the bank on your side! I strongly suggest you do your homework and find an account tailored to children. These accounts offer special rewards and benefits for children to help encourage saving. One with a passbook is great or even an online account and you can show them their statement and how the money is adding up! A quick online search will help you find banks like Newcastle Permanent that offer a kids “Money Minder” account with no fees and some great rewards.

This is a new approach for us and no doubt we will have to reassess it regularly as our children mature.

So are you a spender or a saver?

Do you have any tips for teaching children about money?

This is a sponsored post from Newcastle Permanent. I have been paid to share my honest experience about teaching children to save money.

Last week Little Miss A started Kindy. It was a moment full of anxiety, anticipation, nerves and I’m afraid only a minute amount of excitement. She is my sidekick. My constant companion. She has only ever been left in the care of grandparents. Never a friend or a playgroup or a baby sitter or a dance lesson. NOTHING. She would be saying goodbye to me and being away from me for a whole day.

Day 1: We posed for the obligatory first day photos. I was a tired emotional wreck before we even got there and had no sleep just worrying about how it would all go down. Once we arrived, she eagerly peaked in the windows, before the doors were open. She excitedly pointed out all the fun things she could see. We entered and immediately had our first “situation” the teacher was waiting and hugging each child as they entered. Little Miss A is extremely shy of adults. Her immediate reaction is fight or flight. She grabbed my hand and said “I don’t want to hug her” Her face was saying was flight so I grabbed her and we found a sneaky exit and headed straight for an activity. She eagerly sat down at a table and for the next ten minutes it was as if we weren’t there! She grabbed puzzle after puzzle and as the tears of other children around her began she became oblivious to all the commotion and continued on with her activity. We said a quick goodbye and left. THAT WAS IT! No clinging, no crying, no pleading. NOTHING!

Day 2: The first thing she said upon waking “Please don’t tell me I have to go to Kindy?” CLASSIC. The “Day 2 Blues” were here. Being a teacher I had seen this in action many times! The excitement of Day 1 is over and the reality sets in that they have to do it all over again. We had been lulled into a false sense of security. The whining and sooking continued for the next 2 hours. She saw her lunch box, she cried. She saw her uniform, she refused to put it on. She fought me to not get in the car. Once she was in the car and saw where we were going, the pleading began. On arrival at Kindy the scene of our morning was repeated by the majority of the class. It was domino effect. Once one started they all chimed in and before we knew it there was a choir of crying children. I stood outside her classroom and peaked in. Sad but true, I had a little giggle. Standing with the other parents we all looked at each other in complete disbelief at what had just happened. If you didn’t laugh you would cry!

Day 3: Saturday Morning Ballet. It was our second lesson of the year and I wondered if after our tumultuous week, I should take her. I was tired. She was tired. I was emotionally spent. I knew though that I couldn’t give in now. This was a tough love battle I just had to fight. She has been begging to go to Ballet. I knew if she could get past the leaving Mum bit, she would love it. As they lined up, it began. First a tear, than a hug , then a cling and a cry and a scream. Forget dancing, this child needs drama lessons. I am the worst mother alive. The next half hour was dreadful as I could hear her crying. She would start and stop but by the end of the class I knew by her face that she had spent most of the lesson crying. As we walked to the car she had a sudden realisation that the whole dramatic display was over and was suddenly ultra cheery saying “I promise not to cry next week Mum” Next week? really, there will be a next week?

Day 4,5,6: We are back for another week at Kindy. This time three days in a row and after a four day break. Two out of three days were good. She has made a new friend and as long as she can find her she seems to settle. The teacher is AMAZING! She is nurturing and super friendly and Little Miss A greets her with a giant hug each morning! I have NEVER seen her do that before! She talks about Kindy NON STOP. The mornings we still have some reluctance and the occasional sad face, but the pleading and screaming is easing. I spent my days, crying into my sushi, missing my sidekick. Especially after the one morning that she had put on another crying scene. Had we done the right thing but not sending her to daycare? Would we have been better off gradually introducing more time away form me? Was it my fault she was so upset? What if she is just too young and never settles?

Day 7: Back to Ballet. I pondered all week whether we should bother. I couldn’t get that little tear stained face from the previous week out of my head. Was it just too much at this stage? Too many changes with starting kindy? We talked, and we talked and we talked. Between my husband and I we agreed we had to stand firm. The tough love approach was needed. We couldn’t give in. We knew she would love it and we were going to have to just try to stick out the tears. She had to be brave and I had to be braver. We told her she had to take baby steps and today it was okay if she didn’t join in but she had to at least not cry. She could go in and just watch, but there was to be no calling out for Mummy.

As we entered and they all lined up she grabbed my hand. I gave it a squeeze and put it into the hand of the dance teacher. There was no crying. There was no screaming. She followed the little line of pink ballerinas into the dance room, not happily but not looking behind. I listened at the door. Nothing but music and instructions. I went for a walk, enjoyed a coffee and tried my darndest not to think about it. The lesson finished and I was greeted by the happiest of little faces! We were in a hurry and dashed off. As we were leaving the teacher yelled out to us from the balcony. “Little Miss A was the perfect Ballerina, she was happy and joined in for the entire lesson!”

No more brave mum. Just a teary one. I knew she could do it. I didn’t know if I could, but WE did. Two weeks of sleepless nights, anxiety, tears, pleading all rolled up into one big ball of pride. We were making progress. We picked our tough love battle and we won. We are making steps towards having a confident little girl who is excited to try new things, independently.

To some they may seem like small baby steps, but to us, in this moment it feels like big leaping grande jete’s. It’s most definitely worthy of a happy dance.

Each week we put out 5 Busy Bags. Now that Little Miss A is only home 5 days a fortnight I am planning on keeping them out for a fortnight.

#1 – “Cupcake Counting”

– Write numbers on the end of oversized paddle pop sticks

– child places the right number of cupcake pegs on the stick!

I love using pegs because they are great for fine motor! They help to develop grip and control strengthening little finger muscles.

#2 “Love Maths” –

Place the love hearts in size order! Biggest to smallest, smallest to biggest

The random hearts are for matching, patterning, sequencing, sorting! Possibilities are endless! Can they sort them by colour/pattern? Sort by size?

Make a size pattern (big, small, small) Make a colour pattern? (Pink, purple)

This one is especially for Valentines Day coming up! I often like to theme the activities depending on special days, seasons, holidays.

#3 “Peg My Name”

Make a laminated card with your child’s name on it.

We “beautified” it by adding her name onto a pony picture

Write the letters of their name onto some pegs. One letter on each peg! Don’t forget to use a capital letter for the first letter and lowercase for the rest! –

Now they select the right letter peg and add it to the corresponding letter on the card!

#4 “Learning Letters” – I bought this great little book from Kmart for $2!

I tore out the pages and laminated them, making them reusable!

I only place 3-5 cards in the bag with a whiteboard marker.

I only put the cards in, once we have gone over the letter one on one*

Once she has written in the card she wipes it off with a baby wipe!

*As part of our tot school we are focusing on 3 letters a week. Once we have completed a few introductory activities on this letter, I put the corresponding card into the busy bag.

I have had these laminated colour cards from my classroom for years!

Little Miss A lives to line them up, match them and add the same colour button! Easy!

I create the bags each Sunday and place them on top of our toy rotation trolley in a little basket.

I collected the little clear pencil cases from various cheap shops! Once the activity is finished for the fortnight I place it into a clear snap lock bag and into a large storage container ready for in a few months to place out again!

Little Miss A (and sometimes even Master O) are free to grab a bag and complete an activity ANYTIME they want to. There are also times I “madate” they play with a busy bag. During Master O’s homework time or when they need a little quiet and calm time or in a month or two when Mummy is feeding the baby! I don’t “prescribe” an amount of time they play with the activity as generally it is just until they finish the activity which is usually 5-10 minutes. Somedays like Monday’s she wants to do all the bags at once and by the end of fortnight she is showing little interest in ANY of them.

We love busy bags, as they give us a quick, educational, answer to “What can I play Mum?” as well as ensuring that some of the time during the week is devoted to play based activities that cover a variety of educational concepts.

As we change our activities around I will be sure to share them with you!

It’s no secret that I love to label. I have dedicated much of my life to ensuring everything and every place in our home is labelled! Labels ensure items find their way home. This is never more true than all those items that leave your home to visit school, Kindy or work each day!

Pencils, scissors, socks, and books. If it is leaving your house, LABEL IT! If you LOVE it LABEL IT!

With a new school year ahead now is the perfect time to stock up on name labels.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN LABELS

QUALITY. This for me comes before everything else. Labels are one of those items where you really do get what you pay for. There are many label companies out there these days but don’t scrimp on quality for the sake of saving a few dollars. A good label can last for many years, buy it cheap and you may have to buy it twice, costing more money in the end.

Look for labels that;

Are Dishwasher Safe (For lunchboxes)

Are Washing Machine Safe (For Clothes)

Come in various sizes.

Are Laminated (paper labels are just not durable)

PRICE. This is where it pays to be organized. Finding a great price does not neccessarily mean finding the cheapest. Make a list of the type of labels you will need. Savings can be found by purchasing a value pack that includes a variety of label sizes and type that best suits your needs. You can buy a cheap pack but if it’s full of labels in sizes you don’t need and doesn’t include a number of the ones you DO need!

DESIGN. I am going to be looking at these labels A LOT. They may as well look good. Also for younger children, having a particular picture or theme to the labels, assists non readers to identify which items belong to them. E.G My shoes are the ones wit the airplane picture. I also like to get a variety of colours in my pack to help with colour coding! I know it is a bit OCD but in the past I have used different colours for different days of the weeks or to even to help identify the left and right shoe (Red for Right, Lime for Left) By putting two matching colour labels

BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Check with your school what needs to labeled. Some classrooms, especially in the early years have communal pencils, crayons and even scissors. These items often don’t need to be labeled. However, some times it also pays to label everything just the same as at least you are in with a chance of unused items being returned to you at the end of the year. Ask the class teachers or even parents who have been at the school before.

CLOTHING AND SHOE LABELS. Don’t forget to include clothing and shoe labels. Have you ever tried to work out whose black velcro shoes belong to who in a see of 25 pairs of identical shoes? Clothing labels generally come in either the stick on or Iron on variety. In my experience although the stick on labels are obviously much easier to use, the iron on ones do last longer.

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT

I make up a big table. If you think I love a good label, you haven’t seen me with a table! Just in word I create a label to track what we have purchased, what we have received, what kind of book cover we will need and what kind of label we require for each item.

By doing this I can easily workout how many of each item, we need and make the most of value packs.

mini labels, the best option for fiddly pencils and crayons

This year we needed LOTS of Mini Labels. EVERY pencil, text and crayon was required to be individually labelled. In past years we have required lots of regular name labels and book labels. I also made another table for uniforms. With two children in completely new uniforms this year I needed to stock up on clothing and shoe labels.

and so the production line begins!

So who do I use? This is actually my fifth year of using Stuck On You. At first when Master O went to child care I choose them because they were cute. After seeing how durable they were I continued to buy them! I have even bought Little Miss A a few before, not that she has ever really needed a label!

Master O chose the Robot themed Designer Book Labels

Little Miss A loved the Sweetie Pie range.

I must admit, throwing myself into the preparations for Back To School has taken my mind off the fact that my Little Miss A, who has never been away from me, is going to KINDY!!!!

Let it be known, I am the mother of THE PICKIEST EATER. Little Miss A started out well and as a baby would eat anything that came her way, but somewhere after the age of 18 months we found our selves with a child living off vegemite sandwiches and air.

I do have hope. Master O was actually much the same until he started Kindy. Suddenly with an increase in activity, his appetite increased! He also went to a Kindergarden with a strict RUBBISH FREE lunchbox policy. Lunches had to be rubbish free in every sense of the word, no plastic wrap or packaged food and no junk food! I was even sent a note home, in trouble for sending in blueberry muffins! But suddenly he wanted healthy food. Everyone else was eating it and peer pressure in its finest form kicked in. I now had requests for sultanas, carrot sticks and sushi! We started making our first Bento Lunches and never looked back.

Our bento lunches are really just package free food in compartments. I don’t get fancy and haven’t until now bought special cutters or food picks. Little Miss A loves looking at pictures of the fancy shaped lunches (especially the Hello Kitty ones) so I am going to give a few a try this year.

So for some inspiration…….

From The Yumbox Blog, co founder Maia created this yummy bento lunch.

SUSHI! This one is especially for master O who not only devours Sushi but cucumber too! I have never thought to cut it into little sticks before.

Another great lunch from the Yumbox blog

PASTA. Both kids love pasta and will eat it in any shape or form. This opens up a whole heap of grain opportunities. I am thinking pasta teddies, ravioli and macaroni.

From Another Lunch. One of the first Bento Blogs I ever read!

Salami. I always think ham and chicken for Protein but Salami would be a winner for both children.

From Wendolonia. This is the best BENTO blog! This is where I first read about the Yumbox!

RICE. When all else fails we cook Little Miss A some rice. Bento supplies often have rice moulds and I would love to give these a try.

When the mamabelly family became interested in a household rabbit, the lunches followed the theme of the children’s interests! What a brilliant idea!

Bunnies!!!! Remember her Bunny Birthday? Just maybe this will be the way to get her to eat carrots?

Another bento from Wendolonia. I love that she calls the sliced carrots, carrot coins!

Popcorn! Actually counted as a grain! Who doesnt love popcorn!

From Ladybug Lunches. Fantastic reviews and great lunch ideas for a picky little ladybug!

Those little flower hams would be gobbled up in a second. Master O loves corn but I have never thought of putting it in a lunch box.

This is cuteness extreme from Bent On Better Lunches.

Lady bugs, this would be the envy of the Kindy playground! Way too cute for words and such simple but effective ideas.

Another Bent On Better Lunches Bento! This is a yumbox tray out of the yumbox!

Take any slice/biscuit/muffin and use a cookie cutter to cut it into a heart and it instantly looks appetising!

I truly believe by supplying small portions of many different foods, in a creative and fun way, that my picky eater may just try something new!

All of these Bento’s are created in the Yumbox lunchbox and can be found (along with many more!) on my Pinterest boards.

Hi and Welcome!

Welcome to the nest! Wife of one, Mum to 3, Teacher of a flock. Happy is..... a perfectly labelled storage solution, time with a coffee and my planner, creating memories with my family, navigating motherhood with style, making our house into a beautiful home and teaching children through play.